Seoul Mayor Pledges Training Support After Record Asian Games Haul

Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon met with athletes from the Seoul Metropolitan Government's sports teams on the 8th to congratulate them on winning the city's largest-ever medal haul at the Asian Games, promising to provide a stable training environment.

Oh hosted a luncheon with the city-affiliated athletes who competed at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games. The Seoul delegation sent 17 athletes across seven sports, including fencing, handball and sport climbing, to the Games held in Japan from Sept. 19 to Oct. 4. They collected 12 medals in total — three gold, three silver and six bronze — the most the city's athletes have ever won at an Asian Games.

Attendees at the luncheon included fencers Jeon Ha-young, Park Ji-hee and Shim So-eun; sport climbers Seo Chae-hyun, Jeong Ji-min and Lee Do-hyeon; women's football players Kim Min-ji and Kang Tae-kyung; track athlete Shin Min-gyu; and Kang Tae-sun, head of the Seoul Sports Council.

Oh presented the athletes with merchandise featuring Haechi, the city's mascot, while the athletes gave him an Asian Games commemorative T-shirt they had signed.

"The color and number of the medals are a source of pride, but what you endured and the challenges you overcame to reach that result are worth even more," Oh said. "We will spare no support needed so that athletes can focus on training in a stable environment and fully demonstrate their skills on the world stage."